Stuart Mitchell’s ‘Seven
Wonders’ is presented in a cardboard
gatefold package. There’s no booklet
and very little information about the
music.
On gaining some first
impressions one realises that the music
is pretty much self-explanatory, requiring
no detailed analysis. Experienced collectors
should already have gleaned some insights
from the grandiose title and the cover,
on which a representation of one of
the great pyramids emerges from a gloomy,
Yves Tanguy-style skyscape.
The legendary Seven
Wonders are taken literally, and each
is given programmatic treatment. Such
grand subjects demand a broad canvas,
and Mitchell is lucky to have the services
of the Prague Symphony Orchestra and
the Kuhn choir at his disposal. I have
a sneaking respect for composers who
are able to wear their hearts on their
sleeves, and ‘Seven Wonders’, which
took fifteen years to complete, is obviously
a project which is of very personal
significance to Mitchell. He certainly
has no lack of confidence in the effect
of his music. In the brief notes he
states, "Seven Wonders Suite for
Orchestra is a celebration of human
artistic endeavour. After a 1000 year
absence, these great monuments are brought
to life again through the power of music
and the imagination of the listener."
I have noted some enthusiastic
responses from customers announcing
their satisfaction with this CD on the
web, and on hearing the music during
the recording sessions the director
of the Czech National Orchestra chose
movements from the piece to be performed
twice as part of their 2006 season.
I therefore freely accept that my opinion
is subjective, and while I am always
reluctant to criticise out of hand,
I am sorry to say that ‘Seven Wonders’
is consistently and spectacularly awful.
Having said this, I
am obliged to say why I think so.
For me, new music should
be just that – new, or at the very least
‘renewing’. No matter how strenuously
some composers may resist a connection
with the past, we are all saddled with
history and tradition. The ‘Antique’
style will pop up now and again, with
composers either making witty comment,
or respectfully honing their skills
by acknowledging their musical forebears.
Listening to this piece however, I find
myself gathering composers’ names by
the minute, and like a magpie – here’s
a bit of Samuel Barber, some Holst,
Khachaturian, Delius, Sibelius, Elgar,
Howells, Vaughan Williams – the list
seems endless. It’s like something cobbled
together by a truckload of hackneyed
film composers, but with all the ‘Lawrence
of Arabia’ and ‘Ship at Sea’ chestnuts
unbelievably being given yet another
roasting the whole thing turns full
circle and becomes a parody of a parody.
I challenge anyone listening to this
‘blind’ to identify the music with a
single personality. I find the only
real challenge here is trying to discover
where Stuart Mitchell’s own musical
character lies. As pastiche, this work
is a treasure-trove, but in taking itself
so seriously the joke is, unfortunately,
on Mitchell. The intellect is unchallenged
here by innovation, dissonance or any
noticeable harmonic astringency or individuality.
While there are tunes aplenty, they
seem to be as consistent and as memorable
as a weather forecast. This lack of
confrontation with any sense of musical
peril will no doubt appeal to many people,
but it is possible to create
a tonal and emotionally expressive musical
idiom while maintaining a recognisable
identity. Say what you like about Arvo
Pärt or Malcolm Arnold, but you
can almost invariably spot their individual
voice as soon as ‘the needle hits the
groove’. ‘Seven Wonders’ re-hashes just
about every orchestral cliché
imaginable, and the result is magnificently
and appallingly anodyne.
The performance is
honest and well executed and the recording
is fair, although there is some compression
on peaks. A quite heavily perfumed layer
of artificial reverberation appears
to have been added to help glue everything
together. Listeners who enjoy the ecstatic
escapist romanticism of Hollywood film
music will probably find much to enjoy
here, and those who have been preparing
slide or video shows of exotic holidays
should have this CD available for use
as a soundtrack – it will enhance your
presentation no end.
Dominy Clements
Ildiko Szabo, Pavla Zejbalova (sopranos) 
